The river of life - Part 1

Wednesday, 3 October 2012
5 Comments

Ganga has some deeper and hidden
connections in my life. It dates back to when I was almost 4 or 5 years old and
use to throw coins in the river whenever we crossed the Ganga Bridge at Kanpur. But
that was a fun task for me, as my only motive was to ensure that the coin
reached the river, from a moving car, without bothering much about the reason. But
let’s rewind and know why did I throw coin in the river? Weird! Actually it’s a belief or you could say a
custom in Brahmins to offer some money, out of respect, to the holy river
whenever you were in close proximity. At that point in time I was completely
unaware of this fact and it was merely a target for me to achieve. But unknowingly
I guess these were the values which were automatically imbibed in me as easily
as, getting accustomed to touching elder’s feet. But the actual sense of
realization came when I visited Rishikesh in 2009. I was completely mesmerized by
the grandeur of the river and I just fell in love with Ganga. The river turned into a
soulful, lively inspiration for me rather than just a water body. It attracted my imagination and lead me to reach it one of its mystical source, Gaumukh.

India is the only place where air and fire,
trees and animals, mountains and rivers are depicted as God. And one of these
powerful deities is the River Ganga. She is the water goddess who blesses
thousands in the Northern India. For centuries she has shaped up the plains and
relieved the parched land by its mighty waters. It flows for 2500 km through
the gangetic plains before meeting the Bay of Bengal at Gangasagar. The cycles
of birth, death and rebirth are endlessly played out around her. And through
these two kinds of worlds: the natural and the spiritual world, flows the river
of life, Ganga.

India has many sacred rivers, but it is the
Ganga which lies in the heart and soul of the people. As goddess, Ganga
originally watered the gardens of heavens but its powers were needed on earth
to purify and cleanse the souls. The impact of her descent would have destroyed
the earth, therefore lord Shiva caught the river in his hairs and channeled the
flow into hundreds lesser streams. The source of Ganga is of great significance
as in Hindus it is considered to be the crossing point between earth and
heaven. River Bhagirathi, originating from the Gangotri glacier is considered
to be the source of Ganga in Hindu culture and mythology but some consider
Alaknanda to be the true source, geographically. Flowing through the majestic
Himalayas, the two rivers meet at Devprayag to form Ganga. Hindus believe a
holy dip into the river can wash away all your sins and lead you to Moksha-
liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth. Such is the grandeur of this
river. It has some of the holiest places of India along its bank, which draws
Hindu pilgrims from all over the sub-continent to celebrate and worship the
divine river goddess.

Before coming to Haridwar, the river is
wild and its sources and tributaries are full of mysteries. Its only here, that
it takes a shape of one powerful river which enters a very different, a very
human world. In which her sacred waters cleans cities, irrigate fields and
purifies the body as well as the souls of millions. From here it moves into its
next stage to start its epic journey to the sea.

hey its a really nice, to see that somebody still have a pristine feeling for holy rivers, now a days holy rivers just becoming a carrier of industrial waste & they are not holy any more...kindly keep writing. so might it will rejuvenate the feeling of people, whose think the rivers are just a mode of garbage flow.

Good write up.I love how you expressed your childhood memories and linked it to crux of this article.May i also add that Rivers play a huge part in every culture and are immediately linked to Gods and various customs and traditions, so people can learn to respect it.Nile River in Egypt, Hwang-Ho in China are few examples which enjoy almost god-like respect in these regions, as they have sustained human populations for so long.Rivers along with Nature should be respected and we as humans should learn to live in harmony with Nature, not against it.